Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 7,233,594 Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 74.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,462,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 7,233,594 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.41% of Geron worth $8,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its stake in shares of Geron by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 3,660 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Geron by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,401 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 4,829 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Geron by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 24,414 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 7,592 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Lazari Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Geron by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 76,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Geron Stock Performance

GERN stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1.27. 13,831,903 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,635,886. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.62. Geron Co. has a one year low of $1.17 and a one year high of $5.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $808.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.97 and a beta of 0.76.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $39.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $49.88 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. Geron's quarterly revenue was up 12927.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.07) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley lowered shares of Geron from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $3.50 to $2.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Geron has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5.06.

Geron Profile

Geron Corporation, a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for myeloid hematologic malignancies. It develops imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor that is in Phase 3 clinical trials, which inhibits the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant stem and progenitor cells in myeloid hematologic malignancies for the treatment of low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes and intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis.